Gerry Adams

[CL]

I do understand what you are saying DrPB. Without the peace process hundreds if not thousands of additional people on both sides would probably have been killed. In the 1980's it was very hard to imagine the current relative state of peace ever happening. Turning a blind eye to the misdeeds of Adams and others is the price that has had to be paid.

On the contrary. By doing a deal with terrorists Blair made the world a far more dangerous place. The IRA were close to being defeated through demoralisation. They were on their last legs but Blair gave them and all terror organisations a lifeline. I'm convinced there has been more terror activity around the world than there would have been without this so called 'peace process.'

[Muddy Retriever]

On the contrary. By doing a deal with terrorists Blair made the world a far more dangerous place. The IRA were close to being defeated through demoralisation. They were on their last legs but Blair gave them and all terror organisations a lifeline. I'm convinced there has been more terror activity around the world than there would have been without this so called 'peace process.'

The army had tried for 30 years to defeat the IRA miltarily and only succeeded in achieving a stalemate. Combating terrorism by conventional means is very difficult and can lead to greater support for the terrorists. I disagree with you on Blair as Northern Ireland is one of his few success stories. Contrast this with the long struggle in Afghanistan, which has achieved little.

[CL]

The army had tried for 30 years to defeat the IRA miltarily and only succeeded in achieving a stalemate. Combating terrorism by conventional means is very difficult and can lead to greater support for the terrorists. I disagree with you on Blair as Northern Ireland is one of his few success stories. Contrast this with the long struggle in Afghanistan, which has achieved little.

There is no peace in Northern Ireland. There were still tit for tat killings of civilians, soldiers being executed and devices exploding years after the agreement. Even now there is a deep hostility between various groups.

It's very easy to say there must be peace because bombs aren't going off in your back yard but that's only part of the picture. The rest of the picture includes the consequences of making deals with terrorists and if you look at terrorist activity over the past 15 years you'll see that their activity increased dramatically after the deal. How much of that was inspired by Blair sitting at the table with terrorists can only be guessed.

[Muddy Retriever]

There is no peace in Northern Ireland. There were still tit for tat killings of civilians, soldiers being executed and devices exploding years after the agreement. Even now there is a deep hostility between various groups.

It's very easy to say there must be peace because bombs aren't going off in your back yard but that's only part of the picture. The rest of the picture includes the consequences of making deals with terrorists and if you look at terrorist activity over the past 15 years you'll see that their activity increased dramatically after the deal. How much of that was inspired by Blair sitting at the table with terrorists can only be guessed.

It certainly isn't perfect, I wouldn't disagree on that. Indeed the IRA went on to transfer their activities towards other forms of crime such as bank robbery. I also agree that there still exists a large degree of sectarian disharmony between protestants and catholics in Northern Ireland. But it is unrealistic to expect that to disappear overnight.

I don't understand how you can say that terrorist activity has increased over the past 15 years. If you're talking about Northern ireland, that clearly isn't the case.